Thousands
of Anash and Tmimim, shluchim and guests from around
the world packed the zal of 770 for a farbrengen
Thursday night, MotzaeiGimmel Tammuz. It was organized by
the gabbaim of the shul, along with Matteh HaOlami
L’Havaas HaMoshiach and the Chabad World Center to Greet
Moshiach.

After
watching a video of the Rebbe, the emcee, Rabbi Shalom Yaakov
Chazan, called upon Rabbi Levi Yitzchok Shapiro, secretary of the beis
din,to recite the Rebbe’s chapter of Tehillim,
concluding with “Yechi.”

Rabbi
Chazan quoted a letter dated Gimmel Tammuz 5710 in which the Rebbe
explains that the primary function of a Rebbe is to be the Nasi
Chabad. The Rebbe clarifies this in a letter dated Gimmel
Tammuz, because Gimmel Tammuz is a day of hiskashrus. On
this day we must strengthen our hiskashrus to the Rebbe
MH”M shlita through fulfilling his directives, especially
those regarding hafatzas besuras ha’Geula v’ha’goel.

Rabbi
Osdoba, mara d’asra of Crown Heights, spoke about the
connection between ParshasKorach and Gimmel Tammuz. “How
could the people who saw Moshe receive the Torah from Hashem
suspect that Moshe appointed his brother as Kohen Gadol
simply because he was his brother? Their mistake was in not
understanding that Moshe was incomparably greater than they. They
assumed Moshe was like them and since they had personal
preferences, they presumed that Moshe did too, albeit in a more
subtle form. This is the lesson for us. We must know that the
Rebbe is incomparably greater than us, and therefore we must
follow all his directives precisely.”

Rabbi
Hillel Pevsner, rav of the Chabad community in Paris, was
the next speaker. “In all Chabad communities around the world,
Gimmel Tammuz is described as ‘ha’yom ha’gadol
v’ha’kadosh.’Chassidus explains that ‘kadosh’means removed, separated. Our avoda is to make sure
that the Rebbe’s inyanim are not separate from us. We
must carry on with all the Rebbe’s inyanim, thereby
bringing the Geula.”

Rabbi
Shalom Mendel Simpson, secretary of the Rebbe and director of
Merkaz L’Inyonei Chinuch and Kupas Rabbeinu, reminded the
participants that despite the darkness of Galus, we must
focus on the great light of the YemosHaMoshiach.

“We
must go out to the entire world with the Rebbe MH”M’s great
announcement that the Geula is imminent, and we must
prepare for it. Some say it is difficult to publicize the besuras
ha’Geula and they convince themselves that it is impossible
to bring this message to the public. Eight years after the Rebbe
informed us that the “time for your redemption has arrived,”
and that the world is ready to accept the message about the
imminent Redemption, how shameful it is that some are
afraid of their own shadows, claiming that we don’t have to say
everything, and that not everything is accepted.

“I
speak from experience. In Brighton Beach where I serve as rav,
I disseminate the besuras ha’Geula as the Rebbe wants us
to, and I see how everybody accepts it and seriously prepares for
Moshiach’s coming. When I speak to my congregation about the Geula,
they understand exactly what we’re talking about, for the topic
is not foreign to them. They live with Geula.

“Everybody
has to do this! After the Rebbe said the world is ready, no
Chassid can come and say that the world is not accepting it!”

R’
Chanina Sperlin, of the Vaad HaKahal, said Birkas Kohanim
and then greeted the many guests who came to Crown Heights for
Gimmel Tammuz. Then the emcee called upon one of the ziknei
ha’Chassidim, Rabbi Nissan Pinson of Tunis. He was one of
the first shluchim, having served in Tunis for forty years.

Rabbi
Pinson spoke about his early years of shlichus in Morocco
forty-eight years ago, followed by shlichus in Tunis.
“The Rebbe began conquering the world through his shluchim,
who had to be moser nefesh to go out to a spiritual
wilderness and transform it into a place of Torah and Chassidus.
Today there is no corner of the world the Rebbe hasn’t
transformed into a place where Judaism flourishes. There is no
question that the mesirus nefesh of the shluchim will
hasten the Geula with the revelation of the Rebbe MH”M.”

Upon
concluding his speech, Rabbi Pinson began dancing and drew along
the distinguished people on the dais. It was a beautiful sight to
see ziknei ha’Chassidim dancing in Chassidic unity.

Rabbi
Shmuel Butman, director of the Matte HaOlami L’Havaas HaMoshiach
and director of Lubavitch Youth Organization, spoke in English. He
spoke strongly against the dangerous policies of the Israeli
government which endangers the lives of millions of Jews in Eretz
Yisroel and abandons most of the residents of Yesha.

Rabbi
Butman said that despite the emuna and bitachon that
the Rebbe will appear imminently, we must hear the cries of the
children who did not merit to see the Rebbe. “They demand,
rightfully so, that they want to see the Rebbe MH”M. You cannot
satisfy them with explanations and sichos. They want to get
lekach and a maamer from the Rebbe. We have no
answer to this request. We turn their cry over to Hashem, who
should immediately reveal the Rebbe to us.”

Rabbi
Butman responded to the claims that the Rebbe never encouraged
publicizing the fact that he is Moshiach. “They ask whether the
Rebbe ever referred to himself as Moshiach. The Rebbe never said
the words, ‘I am Moshiach,’ but on dozens of occasions he
alluded to this, almost explicitly, so that only a fool could miss
what the Rebbe was saying. For example: When the Rebbe said that
770 is numerically equivalent to Beis Moshiach, and Moshiach is
the Nasi HaDor, whose name is Menachem – doesn’t that
say it all?

“These
days we must strengthen our simple faith in what the Rebbe said.
The shiur of Tanya for Gimmel Tammuz starts with the
words, ‘We have no involvement with hidden things, but we must
believe with perfect faith in what is revealed to us,’ and ends
with ‘for this is the emuna that is above intellect.’
Indeed, on Gimmel Tammuz we must strengthen our faith, faith that
is above intellect, and follow all the Rebbe’s directives,
especially in publicizing the besuras ha’Geula on a
worldwide scale.”

The
next speaker was Rabbi Moshe Naparstek, mashpia in Kfar
Chabad, who spoke about k’vutza. He described how the bachurim
at first went to the Rebbe for a month’s time, then three
months, half a year, and finally the Rebbe managed to arrange for
the Tmimimto be able to stay for an entire year. The Rebbe
was personally involved in the arrangements that needed to be made
in order to allow the talmidim to be able to leave Eretz
Yisroel for an entire year.

The
Rebbe emphasized the importance of their learning. The Rebbe
devoted many sichos to this topic, remarking that the
Tmimimwere allowed out of the country in the merit of
their learning. “When I entered the zal in the morning
and saw over 100 Tmimim learning Chassidus, I thought of the
tremendous nachas ruach the Rebbe must have from these talmidim.

“In
recent years, despite the obstacles that unfortunately exist from
within, the number of talmidim who come on k’vutza
has grown. Next year, G-d willing, two hundred talmidim will
be coming. I am certain that these hundreds of Tmimim give the
Rebbe much nachas.”

Rabbi
Yosef Yitzchok Kesselman, mashpia in South Africa, stressed
that notwithstanding all the explanations, and that today more
than ever, although we see the Rebbe’s impact in all areas of
life, we are not satisfied with this, and we cry out to Hashem: We
want to see our king!

In
the middle of the farbrengen a group of mekuravim from
Brazil came in, led by shluchim Rabbi Yosef Schildkraut and
Rabbi Shamai Ende. The group entered as the crowd in 770 was
singing a niggun, and the group began dancing
enthusiastically on the benches and the tables.

The
emcee called upon Rabbi Ende, rosh yeshivas Chabad in
Brazil. “Chabad in Brazil these last six years is an
unbelievable success story,” he said. He related how after
Gimmel Tammuz other groups in Brazil expected Chabad to fall
apart. “That’s when we decided to open a yeshiva. We
received an amazing answer from the Rebbe in the IgrosKodesh,
and against all odds we managed to double and triple Chabad’s
outreach in Brazil.”

The
next speaker, Rabbi Levi Yitzchok Ginsberg, mashpia in Kfar
Chabad, quoted the famous sicha in which the Rebbe says
that a Rebbe relates to each Chassid the way the Chassid relates
to him. Whoever relates to the Rebbe as a tzaddik in the
supernal realms, the Rebbe responds by relating to him as a tzaddik
who is indeed far away in the supernal realms. However, when a
Chassid relates to the Rebbe as he is right here, the Rebbe
responds accordingly with much good b’gashmiyus and b’ruchniyus
as the Rebbe is right here.

“The
Rebbe said this about the Rebbe Rayatz; all the more so does this
apply to the Rebbe MH”M shlita. The more we relate to him
as chai v’kayam and here with us, the more hashpaos and
kiruvim we will receive b’ruchniyus and b’gashmiyus.

“This
doesn’t just refer to feelings, but to actions such as davening
with the Rebbe’s minyan with the same hadras kavod
we had on YomimNoraim, when we saw the Rebbe
standing at the shtender.”

Rabbi
Shalom Dov Ber Lifshitz of Yad L’Achim said that despite all the
kiruvim from the Rebbe we see lately, we should not forget
that we are in a terrible situation, especially regarding shleimus
ha’Aretz. “The call of the hour is achdus and
fulfilling the Rebbe’s directives with no exceptions. This is
the greatest gift we can give the Rebbe, and with it we will
hasten the true and complete Redemption.”

Rabbi
Shalom Dov Ber Volpe of Kiryat Gat responded to the claim that the
world is not ready to hear the besuras ha’Geula. He spoke
about a mekurav who began wearing a yarmulka with “Yechi”
written on it. His mother, who is not a Lubavitcher, was nervous
about this and asked a Sephardic rabbi his opinion. “I don’t
understand what’s wrong with believing the Lubavitcher Rebbe is
Moshiach,” the rabbi answered, and suggested that she leave him
alone with his faith.

The
organizers of the event thanked R’ Yaakov Herzog who worked hard
to make the evening a success, and to those who run 770live.org
which broadcasted the farbrengen live via Internet.